Comparative study on financial and administrative decentralization in European countries

Abstract

Our paper proposes a comparative analysis of the degree of administrative and financial decentralization in the European countries. Decoupling local government from a centralized system to a decentralized one involved with their investment decision-making powers backed by important financial resources. Increased local government capacity and accountability meant the effective and efficient management and administration of local public funds. However, most times their own financial resources proved insufficient leading to completion of the budget amounts. Our research shows that, although legally the local authorities were entrusted with decision-making powers in managing local public funds, lack of financial resources makes their dependence on central authority are still extremely strong.